Agenda Summary2007 State & Local Issues Committee National Association of REALTORS® 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo Venetian Resort Hotel Casino Palazzo M, Level 5 Tuesday, November 13, 2007 & Monday, October 1, 2007 9:00 AM - 11:30 AMChair:Ken Jackson (SC) Vice Chair:Phil McGinnis (DE) Committee Liaison:Joanne Poole (MD) Committee Executive:Bob McNamara (DC)I. Call To Order A. Introductions and Opening Remarks B. Conflict of Interest PolicyOWNERSHIP DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICYOwnership Disclosure Policy
When NAR has an ownership interest in an entity and a member has an ownership interest* in that same entity, such member must disclose the existence of his or her ownership interest prior to speaking to a decision making body on any matter involving that entity.
If a member has personal knowledge that NAR is considering doing business with an entity in which a member has any financial interest**, or with an entity in which the member serves in a decision-making capacity*, or wit, then such member must disclose the existence of his or her financial interest or decision making role prior to speaking to a decision making body about the entity.
If a member has a financial interest in, or serves in a decision-making capacity for, any entity that the member knows is offering competing products and services as those offered by NAR, then such member must disclose the existence of his or her financial interest or decision-making role prior to speaking to a decision making body about an issue involving those competing products and services.
After making the necessary disclosure, a member may participate in the discussion and vote on the matter unless that member has a conflict of interest as defined below.
Conflict of Interest Policy
A member of any of NAR’s decision making bodies will be considered to have a conflict of interest whenever that member:
Is a principal, partner or corporate officer of a business providing products or services to NAR or in a business being considered as a provider of products or services (“Business:); or
Holds a seat on the board of directors of the Business unless the person’s only relationship to the Business is service on such board of directors as NAR’s representative; or
Holds an ownership interest of more than 1 percent of the Business.
Members with a conflict of interest must immediately disclose their interest at the outset of any discussions by a decision making body pertaining to the Business or any of its products or services. Such members may not participate in the discussion relating to that Business other than to respond to questions asked of them by other members of the body. Furthermore, no member with a conflict of interest may vote on any matter in which the member has a conflict of interest, including votes to block or alter the actions of the body in order to benefit the Business in which they have an interest.
________________________________________ *Ownership interest is defined as the cumulative holdings of the member, the member’s spouse, children, siblings and to any trust, corporation or partnership in which any of the foregoing individuals is an officer or director, or owns, in the aggregate, at least 50% of the (a) beneficial interest (if a trust), (b) stock (if a corporation) or (c) partnership interests (if a partnership).
**Financial interest means any interest involving money, investments, credit or contractual rights.II. Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes
III. Review of Committee Goals
A. 2007 GoalsGoal # 1 The Committee will consider what policy, if any, NAR should adopt regarding the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Goal #2 The Committee will discuss ways to encourage greater understanding among REALTORS® of Smart Growth issues and to assist REALTORS® to become spokespersons in their communities on quality of life issues.
Goal #3 Create a working group to consider updating the adopted policy regarding transportation and to update the existing "toolkits" starting with the Transportation Toolkit.
Goal #4 The Committee will research, study, and report on the trend of private transfer taxes imposed by home owners associations.B. Draft 2008 GoalsPurpose To assist REALTORS® in understanding the connections among, “smart growth,” quality of life issues, and fiscal policy;To assistREALTORS® to act as spokespersons in their communities on quality of life issues;To monitor state and local tax laws and other budget activities;To monitor the government financing and construction of infrastructure, including transportation, water and sewer, and education facilities;To assist REALTORS® in promoting fiscal responsibility in state and local government;To assist REALTORS® in promoting the construction of and the equitable financing of infrastructure to accommodate new growth;To work for the reduction and more equitable distribution of the tax burden.
The Committee evaluates and makes policy recommendations on programs that build infrastructure, suchas transportation and school construction, on community development and economic development programs, on taxation at the state and local levels, and on other smart growth issues. The Committee shares ideas on how to effectively analyze, lobby, and advocate REALTOR® policies at the state and local level, and stay abreast of trends in Smart Growth.
Chair: Philip McGinnis (DE) Vice-Chair: Ronnie Thompson (NC) Liaison: Mary Antoun (MD) Staff Contact(s): Bob McNamara Goal(s):
1. The State and Local Issues Committee will form a working group that will review and update various "toolkits" starting with the Transportation Toolkit, followed by Public Schools and Smart Growth toolkits.
2. The Committee will research, study and report on the trend of private real estate transfer taxes imposed by home owners associations.
3. The Committee will examine the efforts of state governments to provide affordable health insurance for all citizens.
Rationale: Goal 1 - The oldest of the toolkit series is 5 yrs. old. To ensure that REALTORS® have the most current information, toolkits will be periodically updated.
Goal 2 - Home owners associations have begun to amend their covenant documents to require a percentage of the sales price be paid to the HOA at each subsequent sale of the property. Unlike real estate transfer taxes imposed by governments, there are no statutory limitations on the fees imposed by HOAs. Additional research is needed to determine how these private fees could affect marketability and affordability of real estate.
Goal 3 - Federal efforts to extend affordable health insurance via small business health plans have stalled. State governments are beginning to take up this challenge.IV. Unfinished Business A. Private Transfer Fees - guest speaker Marjorie Bardwell B. Report on School Design Competition - staff C. Report of Transportation WorkingGroup - David Wluka D. Smart Growth Update – staffV. New Business A. NAR Housing Policy Principles B. Housing Visitability (informational)Final Report from the Visitability Working GroupThe Visitability Working group was comprised of members from the following committees:
Federal Taxation - LanceLacy Federal Housing Programs - Iona Harrison Conventional Lending and Finance - John Veneris Land Use, Property Rights and Environment - Dick Dills and Dave Feeken Equal Opportunity Cultural Diversity - Marilyn Glazer and Milton Shockley (chair) REALTORS Commercial Alliance - Cindy Chandler Smart Growth Advisory Board - Ken Jackson Housing Needs - Bob Caldwell Housing Opportunities Advisory Board - Jim Hamilton State and Local Issues - Dave Wluka
The Working group evaluated a recommendation made at Mid-year by the Equal Opportunity Cultural Diversity Committee that NAR support the concept of Visitability in Housing. This recommendation was referred back to committee by the Board of Directors with the creation of this working group.
The Working Group has finished its work and finalized a recommendation that will now once again be considered by the Equal Opportunity Cultural Diversity Committee. It is my expectation that the recommendationwill be endorsed and forwarded to the Board of Directors in November. However, since each of the committees above has a stake in this recommendation, we have a process in mind for managing this recommendation. The following process was crafted by the working group and each working group member is prepared to help in the process.
1. The Recommendation will be considered as an action item by Equal Opportunity Cultural Diversity. If for some reason the recommendation is amended at the EOCD committee, it will also forward the original working group recommendation.
2. Each of the other committees is encouraged to treat this as an informational report to be made by the representative on the working group. I will provide you with the language of the recommendation with rationale for you to distribute to committee members. I will also provide the working group members and each of you with some talking points should questions arise.
3. The working group suggests that your committeetake no action on this recommendation, but instead inform committee members that they may attend the EOCD meeting or PPCC to voice questions or comments. The recommendation is based on hours of considering and balancing the issues and concerns of the various committees.
4. PPCC will act on the recommendation from the working group and EOCD and it will move through the process to the BOD.
If committee members with questions and comments are directed to the EOCD and PPCC committees, this information report should take only a couple of minutes during your meeting.
If you have any questions regarding this recommendation or process, please ask me.
The recommendation is as follows:
That NAR believes that visitability, the ability to host visitors with mobility impairments, can be important in homes.
That NAR believes that any visitability policy should be defined as voluntary. Further, NAR believes that the market is the best mechanism to produce visitable housing and opposes any federal visitability mandates.
For the purposes of this policy, the key features of visitability apply to one level of the home. These are a no-step entry, passage doorways that provide at least 32” clearance, and a minimum of a useable half bathroom with a sink and water closet.
That NAR educate its members about the concept of visitable housing.
That NAR become a resource on visitable housing, compile best practices and examplesof local and state building codes and make this information available to state and local associations.
